The Puppeteer

Dolls

"Did you finish packing your recording room yet?" Signe yelled up the stairs at Jack.

The two were planning on moving out of their small apartment into a house in Brighton so Jack could yell as loud as he wanted without angering the neighbors. That and they wanted to be closer to friends like Felix and Marzia.

"Not yet, I just have my shelf of fan gifts!" Jack's faded green haired head pokes out of the doorway for a brief moment before he disappeared back inside his room to finish.

The once tightly packed room seemed so empty with everything packed into giant moving boxes against the wall, the walls bare since Jack had to take down the black foam padding.

Jack sighed as he stood in front of his towering oaken bookshelf filled with gifts from fans. He had saved it for last so he could have it in the last couple of videos he prerecorded for when he would be moving and unpacking.

Jack had so many fan made Septiceye Sam plushes that he had to put them in their own box. Everything else was able to fit into a single box thankfully, leaving only the bookshelf to dismantle.

"I think that's the last of the things I need to-"

Sean broke off when he spotted a collection of dolls lying on the bottom shelf of his bookshelf where he kept most of his fan gifts.

"Huh, I don't really remember these." Sean remarked as he scooped them up. One looked like a young version of him with a septic eye, another looked like a slightly younger version of Mark, a third looked like Signe, a different one resembled Bob, then there was a Mandy, Wade, Molly, Amy, Chica, and Robin doll.

He placed the dolls into his box of things he was packing for Brighton, pausing to examine the doll of him for a moment. He was about to put it away when he accidentally dropped it onto the black carpeted floor.

Jack suddenly felt himself dragged to the floor by some unknown force, his face pressed into the ground.

"Must've tripped over air again." Jack chuckled somewhat nervously as he grabbed the Mark doll. He smirked as he had the dolls hug each other before he put them away.

That was when Mark suddenly appeared in his room, hugging him while only wearing red boxers and an extremely confused expression.

"What the fuck?!?"

The two yelled in unison, Jack placing the plushes down in the box far apart from each other.

"How did-where-what did-" Mark couldn't form a single sentence as he frantically paced around in panic.

"Do you know what's going on?" Mark paused mid step to face Jack.

"I wish, I'm just as confused as you." Jack shrugged helplessly.

"You okay Sean? I could've swore I heard Mark-"

Signe froze when she saw Mark standing in the room wearing only his underwear, his face flushing bright red in embarrassment.

"Hi Signe." Mark waved meekly.

"Don't ask me how he got here, I don't know either." Jack sighed in exasperation as he dug through his box of clothes and found a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt he hoped would fit Mark.

Mark quickly slipped the clothing on, noticing the plushes in the box lying forgotten on the floor.

"These are cool!" Mark exclaimed as he bent down and picked up the Chica and Mark plush, examining them in his hands.

Suddenly Chica appeared in the room, lying sound asleep on the floor.

"Chica!" Mark rushed to her side to make sure she wasn't injured. Chica groggily lifted her head up and looked at Mark before licking his face and promptly falling back asleep.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack wondered aloud as he watched the golden puppy's back arch and fall with each breath.

"Is it okay if Chica and I stay here for the night?" Mark spoke up, glancing between Signe and Jack for permission.

"Y-Yeah, I'll go set up a bed in the living room." Signe stuttered before leaving, taking one last glance over her shoulder at Mark and Chica before disappearing from sight.

"Uh...so...you're moving to Brighton huh?" Mark attempted to make conversation, unsure of what to talk about. He hadn't expected to be summoned out of bed at one in the morning and somehow taken to Jack and Signe's apartment.

"Yeah, I wanted a change of scenery and to be closer to friends." Jack shrugged.

"Could I borrow your phone? I need to tell the crew where I am." Mark explained.

Jack nodded and handed it to him, watching Mark tell Ethan, Amy, Kathryn, and Tyler what happened.

"The blankets are ready for you downstairs." Signe announced as she came back into the room.

"Amy....I know....I'll try and be home soon....I love you too....bye." Mark hung up, handing the phone back to Jack.

"Thanks for letting me stay here." Mark smiled.

"I mean, considering you and Chica got brought here out of nowhere, it's the least we could do." Jack chuckled.

Mark nodded as he and Chica went to the living room and laid down on the mountain of blankets provided for them.

"Goodnight!" Jack yelled down the hall at him before going into his bedroom with Signe and crawling into bed, instantly falling asleep once his head hit the pillow.